Mira Schendel (1919–1988) was one of Brazil’s most important yet complex and enigmatic artists. While her most well-known works are delicate monotypes, her work encompassed painting, drawing, collage, sculptural objects, notebooks and installations.
This conference addresses the complex relationship of Schendel’s thought to her visual production, focusing on the connections between her painterly practice, her graphic and sculptural works and her dialogues with a diverse range of philosophers, thinkers, artists and critics. It explores her engagement with themes of being/existence, faith, time and the philosophy of language. The individual papers examine the impact of Schendel’s early studies in philosophy in Italy and how her ongoing engagement with Continental and Eastern thought impacted on her development of a radical art practice.
Speakers include: Caue Alves, Michael Asbury, Tanya Barson, Guy Brett, Briony Fer, Jasia Reichardt, Geraldo de Souza Dias and Isobel Whitelegg.
This conference is being held in anticipation of the exhibition Mira Schendel, the first major international retrospective of her work, planned for Tate Modern in 2013 and the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo in 2014. The conference is organised in collaboration with TrAIN, the Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation, University of the Arts, London and is supported by the World Collections Programme.
